AuthorTopic: Wanted, Hohner Erica 'shell' (Read 764 times)

My D/G Erica is a bit of a wreck though it seems to sound OK but when it sits beside the nice shiny red C/F I have it looks very sad, and it reeks of smoke, plus it was put together with silicone and screws and the keyboard has been cracked at one end - so I wondered if anyone has, by some chance, the shell of an Erica so I could do a transplant.

I realize that this might be a forlorn hope, as why would anyone take the reeds out of a perfectly good melodeon - but I just thought that I'd ask before venturing to try to buy another one.

That is an older model and probably has the gaskets on the reed blocks, (more recent ones have the gaskets on the soundboard) and has slightly different block fixings. So I don’t think your blocks will drop straight in, but only a few simple mods required.

My D/G Erica is a bit of a wreck though it seems to sound OK but when it sits beside the nice shiny red C/F I have it looks very sad, and it reeks of smoke, plus it was put together with silicone and screws and the keyboard has been cracked at one end - so I wondered if anyone has, by some chance, the shell of an Erica so I could do a transplant.

Charlie Marshall sells Erica parts separately - LH and RH ends, bass plates, keyboards, etc. You could buy what you need and cobble a new box together from your old one and new parts.

The concept of a nice new case with the old reeds is tempting, but it would probably top £400 for all the separate spare parts - I could take the box apart to see if I can get away with less - do some repairs rather than replacing, but I suspect that once taken apart it will not be possible to reassemble - the use of silicone by previous handlers might make dismantling rather destructive.

It might depend on whether the silicone was just slavered over the joint, or whether it was put on before the parts were assembled. If it's just over the top, it shouldn't be too bad, as the surface for sticking the new gasket on could yet be uncontaminated. A steady hand and a Stanley blade, coupled with a bit of luck; and Bob's your uncle!

Logged

Although I can carry on messing with melodeons, the ongoing attention of the Ministry of Truth and the Thought Police will (no doubt) eventually teach me to really love Big Brother!

There is also the repair to the bellows required - tape plus a missing metal corner, and the way that the bellows pins and screws for the grill have been replaced with an assortment of larger screws so each hole would need to be filled and drilled for something closer to the original.I was amazed that it plays as well as it does, when I got it out of the packaging I was expecting a total loss.

gold tape.I decided to buy a few spare parts and do some work on the original - I have a bottle of Sili-kill for silicone removal, and access to all sorts of tools and also time, so will see what can be achieved.I called Charlie Marshall this morning and gave him a list of items to give me a good start - and whilst I have the box apart I can chase the squeak in the keyboard end and maybe even do a bit of painting and preening plus trying to get rid of the smell of tobacco smoke.At the end of it I hope to have a box which is more airtight, less disreputable, not so smelly and perhaps a bit more responsive - yes it has seen better days - but haven't we all?I will never lack street cred with that box, no matter what I do with it.

Thank you for the move - I was wondering about reporting on the process.I have put on the new corner required by the bellows, and it has made quite a difference to the air - I had not realized that there was actually a gap in the structure as it was not evident when at rest, and it was the inner lower corner.I used a pin to separate the layers of card and paper correctly inside and outside the corner piece, and glued then pinched it into place, a very easy fix.I took it out last night to play for Anonymous morris - I usually play drum but as there were no accordions and only one melodeon I thought I'd try to help out where I could.